I don't think it's simpler than that: Dump was just upset that there was something on TV that wasn't about him. So he made it about himself.

He is using the issue as a distraction. I'm sure he doesn't give a fat rat's arse about the issue. Everyone thinks he is an idiot, but when was the last time the media talked about the Russia investigation.

I'm sure give doesn't give a rat's ass about the issue, but I think he does have a -- real, to him -- sense of grievance over it: "I'm so good and smart doing so many great things, and people are so mean and unfair to me, and those black guys kneeling for the national anthem are getting a free ride!"

(How do people not get that forcing people to engage in a ritual makes it meaningless?)

They get it. They don't care. The issue was never about respect for the flag/military/police/country/Mom/apple pie/Chevrolet/etc. The issue was about a distraction from Trump's failures and an attempt to silence protesters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psihala

NFL great Mike Ditka was blitzed by critics Tuesday after he declared in a radio interview that “there has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of.”

"That I know of" being the key phrase. Also, "Now maybe I’m not watching it as carefully as other people." Ya think!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

I saw a blurb on the news last night that Dear Leader is going to look into the tax breaks the NFL gets; that's one good thing.

The NFL doesn't get any Federal tax breaks, so I'm not sure what he could look into. At one time, the NFL headquarters were tax exempt, but they relinquished that in 2015*. The NFL teams individually have always paid full Federal taxes on revenue from ticket, merchandise, and media income. Teams do get significant tax breaks from individual states or municipalities (as do many other industries), but I'm pretty sure that is entirely out of the Federal government's control.

* And it was never that big. In 2012, $9 million was exempt when overall league revenues were over $10 billion

Last edited by GenYus234; 11 October 2017 at 02:33 PM.
Reason: speeling and footnote

It isn't really fake as Trump did tweet about changing tax laws to remove the "massive" tax breaks that the NFL gets. Which either means he doesn't know that the NFL doesn't actually get Federal tax breaks or that he thinks the Federal government should be able to dictate state and municipality tax laws. Either choice shows a massive amount of ignorance, so I can't decide which one it is. Occam's Razor would suggest that Trump was repeating "common" knowledge without any actual knowledge or research or understanding.

ETA: As at least one commentator pointed out, making tax decisions because of what message a non-profit organization says would be a massive First Amendment issue. And it would happen to be exactly the same thing that got all the conservatives up in arms when it seemed the IRS was targeting conservative political action groups for scrutiny. (Turns out they were targeting liberal political action groups too.) But we all know that it only matters when something bad happens to a conservative, when it happens to a "liberal"*, it is just and right.

* Quotes around "liberal" because I'm having a hard time picturing the NFL or its teams as liberals.

They don't get tax breaks, but they do have an exemption from anti-Trust laws that he might go after. I'm not sure there would be a lot of short-term consequences from that, however. (And I'm not sure it's a bad idea, either, though I agree it should be done based on some principle, not because the NFL made Donnie-boy mad.)

As a sign for tolerance and responsibility and against racism, players and coaching team of the German Soccer Premier League club Hertha BSC Berlin took a knee before their home game on Saturday.

This has also been reported as being a sign against Trump. Although the club doesn't claim that, Trump's actions against protesting NFL players made it so that one can't support the protest without at the same time protesting agains Trump.

So, he kind of managed to make it all about himself, but not in a good way...

According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has hired attorney Mark Geragos and will claim NFL owners have colluded to keep him out of the league. Under the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement teams and the NFL are forbidden from coming together to deprive a player of employment.